Most Nerve Wracking Part About Skydiving: Anticipation

Being anxious about going skydiving for the first time is completely normal. In the grand scheme of things we humans are land animals, and only very recently have figured out ways to take to the sky. One of the very best things about skydiving is that as soon as you jump, any fear and anxiety you were carrying instantly vanishes - and there is only the freedom and joy of being up there in the open sky.

Skydiving is not scary, but if you are skydiving for the first time anxiety can build and make you overanalyze about it. Here are a few of the most common things that cause skydiving anxiety, and some reasons why you should relax and be excited instead ...

Skills

Skydiving in tandem with an instructor is the way most people experience skydiving for the first time. This means jumping while harnessed together with a highly-experienced instructor who has definitely completed at least 500 jumps, and likely many thousands of jumps. The instructor's job is to handle all of the procedures and technical parts of the process - such as getting out of the plane at the right time, deploying the parachute, and flying you both back to the landing area.

Your primary job is to enjoy every part of the experience, by soaking up the thrill of freefall and enjoying the amazing views. As the student, you do have a few simple tasks to perform - but they are easy to get right and everything is covered in the pre-jump briefing. Additionally, your instructor is right there the whole time to review the information and reassure you every step of the way.

Skydiving Equipment

Skydiving anxiety is often generated from worrying about the gear you will be using. Skydiving equipment is very good at doing its job, and by applying very strong and durable materials to sophisticated design methods - combined with decades of refinement and practice - the chances of your parachute malfunctioning are very slim indeed. Also, every set of skydiving equipment includes two parachutes and an electronic component called an AAD (Automatic Activation Device) that will deploy your parachute for you at the correct altitude should you not be aware of your proximity to the ground.

It is normal to consider the prospect of your parachute not opening, but statistics show a 10-year average of one tandem student fatality for every 500,000 tandem jumps. This makes the odds of death from a tandem skydive 0.000002%. For context, this is many times safer than driving a car - meaning your drive to the dropzone to go skydiving is likely the riskiest part of your day.

Attitude

Skydiving is not about taking risks, it is about being safe. Skydivers are far from being the wild and woolly bunch they are often portrayed as and - as you will find when you join us - from top to bottom the whole sport is about considering and mitigating risk. We want jumping from airplanes to continue to be a highly enjoyable and endlessly repeatable sport!

It is likely that the most anxious you will feel about jumping is before you actually get to the dropzone. Once you arrive, each part of the process will help to turn you from apprehension into excitement - from the paperwork and briefing and meeting other jumpers and staff, to getting geared up and climbing into the plane. The best way to deal with the anxiety you are feeling is to head down to the dropzone nice and early and watch some other people go first. There is nothing like witnessing others land, and the effect skydiving has on them, to get you ready to fly.

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Knowing you are in good hands and flying with super sophisticated equipment helps you access that can-do spirit. Skydiving with anxiety is normal - but don't feed your monkey brain with half-truths and hairbrained theories that will make it way worse! And be rest assured that as soon as you exit the plane all the nerves will get left behind, and all that will remain is the irreplicable exuberance that comes with one of the best experiences of your life: human flight!

Ready to hang up your worry hat and jump? Let's go!!